Iran holds defence drills at its nuclear facilities

Iran’s military is working to exponentially boost the range and numbers of its radar systems as part of a series of stepped-up defense measures, state-run media reports.

Brig. Gen. Ahmad Miqani, commander of the Khatam ol-Anbia Air Defense Base, said Sunday that Iran is working on a radar system to detect low-altitude objects as far as 3,000 km (1,864 miles) away, according to Iran’s semi-official Fars News Agency. Previously, the maximum range for Iranian radar was 400 km (250 miles), he said.

“Today, we are building all types of active or passive radar systems, with any kind of range and in any frequency,” Miqani said, according to Fars.

Besides the new and upgraded radar, all of which will be produced domestically, Iran is also making progress in updating its missile defense systems, according to the Fars report.

Miqani said that the military has finished the design stage of its long-range air missile defense system. Iran, too, expects to double the range of its low-altitude Mersad air defense system, he added Sunday.

These announcements come a month after the national defense ministry said Iran had successfully expanded the range of its mid-range Mersad missile defense system.

Starting Tuesday, Iran’s military will hold five days of air defense drills to assess the effectiveness of its missile defense and weapons systems, Miqani said.